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A class action lawsuit seeks to hold multiple pharmaceutical companies accountable for the Canadian opioid crisis.
The Canadian opioid epidemic class action lawsuit was filed by Dr. Darryl Gebien against companies including Apotex, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and others.
Gebien says that he began taking an opioid after he suffered a ligament injury in his thumb. He says that he was prescribed Percocet.
Allegedly, the plaintiff became so addicted to Percocet after taking the drug that it took a significant toll on his life.
Gebien says he lost his license to practice medicine, and lost his job. He also claims that he was incarcerated and lost custody of his children, all because of his opioid addiction.
The Canadian opioid crisis class action lawsuit claims that all of the companies named as defendants market, sell, and distribute opioids in Canada.
According to the Canadian opioids class action lawsuit, opioids are a class of drugs that are made from a compound naturally found in the opium poppy plant, or made from a synthetic version of the compound.
Allegedly, some opioid drugs include Butorphanol, Fentanyl, Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone, Meperidine, Methadone, Morphine, Normethadone, Opium, Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Pentazocine, Tapentadol, and Tramadol.
Gebien explains that opioids are “powerful narcotics” that dull the perception of pain by binding to spinal cord and brain receptors.
Allegedly, the drugs are very addictive, and can give the user a “high” that is characterized by a euphoric feeling. Gebien says that if a patient uses the drugs over a period of time, they may develop a tolerance of the drugs.
If a patient develops a tolerance, they allegedly have an increased risk of becoming addicted, experiencing withdrawal, or overdosing. Gabien explains that the drugs can be fatal if used at higher doses, because they can slow a user’s breathing extensively.
Gabien describes the withdrawal symptoms of opioid use as including nausea, muscle pain, depression, anxiety, diarrhea, vomiting, restlessness, and chills.
The Canadian opioid class action lawsuit says that until the mid-1990s, they were largely not used for long-term use, because of concerns over their addictive properties.
However, in the 1990s, drug companies allegedly developed a marketing narrative to convince the public that opioids were not as addictive as previously thought, and that pain was under-treated. Allegedly, this was done to increase the sale and use of opioids, in the interest of profits.
The opioid crisis class action lawsuit says that because of this inaccurate campaign, many people began using opioids for long-term use and developed serious opioid addictions. Allegedly, these addictions have serious impacts on the lives of patients like Gabien, and in some cases, cost patients their lives.
Have you ever been prescribed opioids for pain management? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
Gebien is represented by Kirk M. Baert and Adam Tanel of Koskie Minsky LLP.
The Canadian Opioid Crisis Class Action Lawsuit is Darryl Gebien v. Apotex Inc., et al., Case No. cv-19-00620048-00cp, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.
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39 thoughts onCanadians File Opioid Crisis Class Action Lawsuit
I went to my doctor because after a car accident I suffered from body pain all over body pain it turned out I had fibromyalgia my doctor gave me morphine 90 mg three times a day plus I got tens on top for 10 years when the opiate crisis my doctor started weaning me off 15 mg a month once it got past 60 it became very difficult for me and I asked her to stop but she wouldn’t stop she got me down to 15 mg three times a day but after 10 years and the pain that I was in because at this time new pain had come into my body my knees I couldn’t handle yeah so I turned to the streets and used heroin one of the worst decisions of my life and I am paying for it even today now I am on methadone and still in a great deal of pain with nothing to help I am stuck in my bed all day I only get out to get my methadone I’m looking at a wheelchair my doctor just kept pushing me away This has been the worst two years of my life
In 2011 I was prescribed 12 Oxycocetts per day at 5/325 mg, in 2019 my doctor, not the original one told me I had to go off of them, at this time I was up to 36 5/325 mg per day, 12 prescribed 24 bought off the street, I lost my car, house and almost my wife and job, so dealing with the information that I was going to be cut off I decided to go off of them instead of his idea to go on methadone, I could not see the logic in going from on addictive substance to another so I decided to go cold turkey, a decision I regretted about a quarter way through but I am glad I stuck to my guns about, what hell I had to go through, I feel bad for all of you suffering, but take solice in thr fact that I am living proof that you can and will survive, hang in there and fight for your life, you are worth it.
My mother died from demerol after breaking her ankle. She had to have multiple surgeries on it as it was not healing right and they kept her on the demerol to control her pain at home. my father found her on the bedroom floor one evening after dinner. 57 years old . I would love nothing more then to make the drug companies and doctors that prescribed this poison pay for what they did to my family and the countless others
I have been enslaved by opiates for a number of years now. I am presently on Hydromorphine and I have a serious addiction to this drug. I’m prescribed opiates to help manage the pain that is the result of spending years locked in a 4×8 cell and tortured and from a MVA.
Could someone please email me at ashblanton4@gmail.com I need to talk to someone about my life an opiods please thank you
I was prescribed percocett about 4 yrs maybe 5 yrs ago for knee ,back , hip and ankle pains because I’m morbidly obese and have been on 90 a month. since then I’ve had a few surgeries and was prescribed dilaudid on top of the percs . now my doctor wants to cut me cold turkey because I had the sleeve surgery, my pain is legitimate from carrying an extra 2 almost 3 hundred pounds for years. I am not always in pain but I do fear that I’ll go through dependency issues as I already panic when I’m running low and haven’t made my Dr appointment , I’ve been through addiction to cocaine and crack and crystal meth , I lost my kids I lost my job my home been through the jail system and know in my heart I traded one addiction for the other altho I’m more stable in housing I can’t work as I’ve become scared to leave my own home , I cut myself off of all my friends and family except my daughter and grandson but lost all motivation to go out side and engage in social activities alone. I don’t know if I’d be a good candidate to join or not but I can tell you the thought of not taking my prescription sends me panicking and I’m scared I’ll get back into the other things as way of self medicating and substituting yet again one drug for a far worse one.and I’ve never expressed or admitted any of my addiction issues with my family doctor.only other medical caretakers of me and community supports , family ect..
100 Percs a month for seven years my dr just retired and I have been cut off cold turkey with no medical care, loosing my mind
I was not looked at!! 3 scans in 4 years and every month, 120 hydromorphones given to me except once.. they left a syringe of morphine on a patient’s chart and all the nurses and doctors left the room…the patient- a drug addict, took the shot off her chart and shot it so, worried I ran and told the doctor.. to “keep my mouth shut” about the incident, he “rewarded me” with 400 hydromorphones tablets…. anyways, I kept telling them I wanted bloodwork, scans ect to find out what’s wrong with me not simply pain meds!!! They stopped giving them to me instantly and by then, 4 years on, I became an addict created by the hospital! Now, I’m “drug seeking” if I go in when in pain… I turned to the streets for pain relief and, do to my addiction.. now, I’m stuck on methadone and discriminated against for it and I have ALL my medical charts proving this! Please, add me.
After my back & neck surgeries, in 1994 . The doctors gave me morphine pills. On over 100 mg I have had suffering hell since taking morphine pills! My nerves pain’s electric shock feeling throughout my body is truly Unbearable! miserable !terrifying!, With Mussels twitching like a fish out of water extremely painful. Freezing cold all the time & painful in tears .shivering, brain fog, Morphine pills make me fill I got hit by a truck, ran over, rocks fell onto me, beaten up! & Muck more crazy side effects! I lost my house !, lost my wife! Divorced! she couldn’t see me withdrawals suffering anymore,! having nausea, mussels pains! restlessness! Depression!, & so much more symptoms their is not enough room to put on this, my doctor tryed many times to stop morphine pills over the years, only to suffering even worse than before!. This morphine pills I believe caused my heart attack! I live in HELL everyday!
I was prescribed tramadol for 1 yr after my mva. This drug was hell. I had major withdrawal symptoms of opioid use as including nausea, muscle pain, depression, anxiety, diarrhea, vomiting, restlessness, and chills.
Does codien tablets 30mg count as opioid?
after my bike wreck in 2006 i was prescribed perks. its now 2019 and im still taking them. only now is not by choice. i have ptsd. im pretty sure the perks are making it worse but i can stop them now in fear of what it might do to me with ptsd i dont want to become suicidal
I was prescribed oxycodone for my back. I loved them, I was able to get so much work done. I started with a few each day and eventually went up to 6 per day. If I r an out it was easy to purchase some from a friend f a friend. I can’t remember how long I took them, somewhere around 7 years. My current doctor encouraged me to ease off and I did. I realized that the oxicocet was in fact giving me pain. Not to mention emotional hysteria, I started taking sleeping pills, was feeling anxious all the time, marital problems. Our 45 year marriage has been difficult because we were both addicted to oxycodone. Him for knee replacement surgery, he took the opioids about 8 years. He has finally quit, I am very happy. I’ve been off them for about 8 months. We are not as productive as we were on the pills, however, we are feeling healthier, especially the mental part, like paranoia and anxiety.